2021 CANADIAN OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS
- June 19 – June 23, 2021
- Toronto, Ontario
- Toronto Pan Am Sport Centre
- Long Course Meters (50m)
- Olympic Qualifying Event
- Swimming Canada Olympic Selection Criteria
- Meet Package
- Psych Sheets
- Live results
In the second of 2 prelims sessions on day 1 of the 2021 Canadian Olympic Trials, Kylie Masse started her meet strong with a 58.13 100 backstroke to claim top seed heading into finals.
That swim for Masse was only 0.03 seconds slower than her Canadian record of 58.10 which she swam at the 2017 World Championships. Masse’s 50.10 was a world record at the time which has been broken 3 times since then by Kathleen Baker (58.00), Regan Smith (57.57), and Kaylee McKeown (57.45).
Masse’s swim makes her the 4th fastest woman in the world this season behind recent world record-breaker Kaylee McKeown‘s 57.45 at the Australian Olympic Trials, Regan Smith‘s 57.92 at the US Olympic Trials, and Kathleen Dawson‘s 58.08 at the 2021 European Swimming Championships.
2020-2021 LCM Women 100 Back
McKeown
57.45
| 2 | Regan Smith | USA | 57.64 | 07/29 |
| 3 | Kylie Masse | CAN | 57.70 | 06/19 |
| 4 | Kathleen Dawson | GBR | 58.08 | 05/23 |
| 5 | Olivia Smoliga | USA | 58.31 | 05/15 |
Masse will be back to swim in the finals of the event and will have a shot and breaking the second Canadian record of the meet, following Joshua Liendo’s 51.40 100 butterfly during the first prelims session.
As reigning world champion, Masse was pre-selected for the Canadian Olympic team this year, meaning that the biggest race will be for 2nd place. Among those fighting for the second spot on the team will be Kayla Sanchez, Ingrid Wilm, Mary-Sohpie Harvey, and Taylor Ruck. Those 3 women placed 2nd – 5th in the prelims while only Masse, Sanchez, and Wilm were under the FINA A of 1:00.25.
Women’s 100 Backstroke Prelims – Top 10
On the men’s side of the event, 2016 Olympian Markus Thormeyer took things out with a 54.18 to take first place in the heats but and was followed by Cole Pratt who swam a 54.41.
Both of them were a little bit slower than their entry times of 53.35 and 53.81, respectively and they were also a bit off the FINA A of 53.85. While Thormeyer is already on the Olympic team for the 200 backstroke, he will need to get under that FINA A in order to secure his spot on the team for the 100
Thormeyer and Pratt will need to hold off the field on men behind them which currently includes 2016 Olympian Javier Acevedo and UBC swimmers Tayden De Pol and Blake Tierney, among others.
Acevedo won this event at 2016 Olympic Trials with a 53.67 and went on to race the event in Rio, hitting a 54.11 for 17th overall.
Men’s 100 Backstroke Prelims – Top 10
Day 1 finals will begin at 5:30 pm EST and will feature the men’s and women’s 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke finals as well as the timed finals of the women’s 400 freestyle.
2021 Canadian Olympic Trials Session Recaps
Neg split 100 by Pratt. I imagine he has another gear!
And he looked almost loafing, very relaxed on the first 50
That looked like a very smooth swim for Kylie. Must be a great confidence boost for her to get a big swim under her belt.
I’m also wondering what’s up with Ruck. One thing I’ve noticed is that she hasn’t put on the muscle that Masse, Oleksiak, Sanchez have over the past few years. I don’t know if that means anything but she just doesn’t seem to have as much power as some of her training peers.
We’re not gonna talk about how Cole Pratt negative split a 100 back to go 54.4?
Taylor Ruck did not look good at all this morning. Hoping she has another gear tonight. Canada needs her to be pre-Stanford to have a shot of beating America in the relays
Impossible to see McKeown off the podium right now, but Masse, Smith and Dawson looks like a total dogfight. Love to see a sub 58 from Kylie tonight.
Can someone find usage over time for “dogfight”? Must be up big time after this week
UBC swimmers looking good
Of all the races at the games, to include the Men’s 200 breast and 100 free, the women’s 100 back is gonna be a banger!
Hasn’t Thormeyer been nominated for the team in the 200 Back, not the 100?
I think so, but that negative split by Cole Pratt should make for an interesting finals swim